Jesinta Franklin opens up about the 'shock' of her mother's cancer diagnosis

By Christine Estera| 3 months ago

How it's caused the model to rethink her career aspirations

Jesinta Franklin has been super-busy since Miss Universe propelled her into the spotlight in 2010. But in recent months, she has made a conscious effort to slow down and focus on what really matters: health and family.

Earlier this year, her mother, Valerie Campbell, was diagnosed with cancer, and that was enough to put everything into perspective for the model, who celebrated her 27th birthday yesterday.

(Instagram)

"This year, Mum was diagnosed with bowel cancer, [so] health has really been something that I've focused on," Franklin said in the September issue of InStyle magazine. "Without [it], you don't have anything.

"You think your parents are going to live forever. She didn't have any symptoms and just went for a routine test," Franklin shared. "It was a shock because she is so vibrant, my mum."

Franklin -- who married her AFL boyfriend Lance 'Buddy' Franklin, 31, in 2016 -- said that seeing her mum come out of surgery was tough, and it was even harder to adjust to the "role reversal" that came when she nursed her mother back to health.

"When you get older and you have that moment with your parents where you become the carer and you've got to be the strength, [it's] really difficult. It was a very humbling experience," admitted Franklin. "We're just very lucky that she's still here."

When asked if her mother's cancer ordeal was the catalyst for change, Franklin replied with a resounding, "One hundred percent, yes." It caused the the former David Jones ambassador -- who has also made a career out of lucrative endorsement deals with brands like Olay, Christian Dior, Coach and Tiffany & Co. -- to re-evaluate her desire to work hard until her 40th birthday so that she could retire.

"I always knew what I wanted in life and the things I really placed value on, but there was a lot of clarity in that moment. Family and health is everything," she told InStyle. "I feel like we're so caught up, especially in this digital age, [that] the more you can get back to the simple life, the better."